I was reading earlier today about the influence of imperialism on African nations after they were colonised and how the patriarchal tendencies infused itself into how the cultures treated women. I wanted to know whether or not women, prior to the surge of western imperialists, had a more important or equal role in society and if they were treated better than what has been happening at the start of the post-colonization era to the present day.
Even pre-colonial era the Arab conquest of Northern Africa and the Nile tributaries greatly altered the cultural landscape of Africa bringing their patriarchal culture with them. It's hard to pin down a truly "African" culture as many different kingdoms had no one unified idea of man and woman and these changed greatly overtime, many East African kingdoms that were ruled by queens at one time later became highly patriarchal even before imperialization.